Suprised no one has mentioned this. It's happening again. I wonder what the consequiences might be if the networks actually lose this time? And since DirecTV has Replay's technology, what might they come out with in the future?

Suprised no one has mentioned this. It's happening again. I wonder what the consequiences might be if the networks actually lose this time? And since DirecTV has Replay's technology, what might they come out with in the future?

Also another "Replay crushed by lawsuit" article perpetuating this myth. The CEO of Replay has said many times legal fees were insignificant in SB demise. Buying several companies (chiefly Rio) that completely collapsed was the reason SB couldn't go on and why the only thing that continued after was Replay.

Didn't the lawsuits issues start under ReplayTV not under SB? The lawsuits may have caused ReplayTV to go under, not SB.

ReplayTV was getting it's ass kicked in sales by Tivo from the start. I remember finding it so frustrating because neither company was touting using a PVR the way I did, and kept focusing on pausing live TV.

... ReplayTV was getting it's ass kicked in sales by Tivo from the start. I remember finding it so frustrating because neither company was touting using a PVR the way I did, and kept focusing on pausing live TV.

If the lawsuits weren't the main cause, they certainly didn't help.

Robert

I always thought that Replay's biggest problem was their initial business model. They had a new (to consumers) technology, but were requiring people to pay big bucks for lifetime service, up front. TiVo gave the option of paying for service monthly, which both made it much cheaper to buy and also gave consumers the equivalent of a trial period. Replay started out way behind, never caught up even after they changed the model, and the lawsuits were the last straw, IMO.

Other than DirectTivo, sales of the two were reasonably close. Tivo NEVER made money, but Replay was profitable, which is why it survived. And lawsuits started at the very beginning, with Replay and Tivo ending theirs as not in their best interests. When SB was sued for CS they made it manual instead of automatic.

You can promote any theory you want to invent, but the SB CEO has stated many times that lawsuits had no effect. Any time you over-pay to buy a business selling millions (RIO) that overnight goes to zero, you're going to have a problem. And SB did it with more than just that 1 product line.